Template - Date: PDC Players Championship 5 Barnsley

In an emphatic performance, White averaged 106.2 and landed four 180s as he swept past the world number one, with the pinnacle of his performance coming with an 11-darter in the fifth leg, whilst he also registered a 108 checkout as he powered to the title.

The victory was White’s first for six months since he also picked up a Players Championship victory in Dublin, as he eased past Ronnie Baxter, Steve Hine and Scott Dale to reach the last 32, before beating Jermaine Wattimena, Josh Payne and Robbie Green to reach the final.

It was there that he produced his best darts as he quickly claimed all six legs to dispose of Dutch ace van Gerwen. The victory is just the third time that White has beaten the world number one, and the first time since 2012.

Friday’s winner van Gerwen, who was hunting his ninth tournament title of 2016, continued his scintillating form to reach his fourth Players Championship final in succession and third of the weekend. However, the Dutchman would suffer a second successive defeat in the final after losing to compatriot Benito van de Pas in Saturday’s decider.

On his way to the final, he defeated Nathan Derry in his opening game before squeezing past Paul Nicholson and Kevin Painter to reach the last 32. There, van Gerwen made light work of the in-form Daryl Gurney in a 6-0 thumping before comfortably beating Keegan Brown and Dave Chisnall to reach the set-up the final showdown with White.

Elsewhere, the run to the semi-finals capped a wonderful weekend for 41-year-old Green, having reached the same stage in Players Championship Three on Friday before losing out to van Gerwen. He stormed past Andy Parsons and Mervyn King in his opening games on Sunday, before a succession of 6-5 victories saw him see off Brendan Dolan, second seed Peter Wright and Cristo Reyes to reach the final four, where White this time proved too strong.

Following his recent elimination from the Betway Premier League, it was a confidence-boosting weekend for Dave Chisnall as he reached the final four on Sunday after making the quarter-finals in Players Championship Four on Saturday. Youngster Payne, who won a Unicorn Development Tour event in March, continued his form as he saw off a number of seeded players to reach the quarter-finals of a ProTour event for just the second time.

After narrowly squeezing past Peter Hudson in his opening game, he then saw off third seed and world number eight Michael Smith 6-3 in the second round before a win over John Henderson and an excellent 6-1 victory against Gerwyn Price moved him into the final eight. Spanish ace Reyes won through to a ProTour quarter-final for the first time with his run on Sunday.

Former World Youth Champion Keegan Brown enjoyed his best finish on the senior circuit since July. Following the treble-header of events in Barnsley over the weekend, Saturday’s champion van de Pas moves into the PDC Order of Merit’s top 20 for the first time, while Alan Norris moved up from 33rd to 30th in the world rankings.